Skirt with improved hem



May 30, 1 v. LINDLEY SKIRT wrm IMPROVED HEM Filed April 17. 1958 y I l l l l II Ill |l||ll|l| INVENTOR. VIRGINIA LINDLE Y t NM (M f/ I United States Patent SKIRT WITH IMPROVED HEM Virginia Lindley, 3015 Peach St., Erie, Pa.

Filed Apr. 17, 1958, Ser. No. 729,174

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-211) This invention relates to garments and, more particularly, to improvements in skirts.

It is the usual practice of the thrifty housewife to lengthen the skirts of her daughters as the daughters grow and increase in height. It has been a common difiiculty that when a skirt is lengthened, the line which represented the lower edge of the skirt before lengthening is very apparent. This is sometimes caused by the fact that the garment is folded sharply and pressed at the lower edge, forming a crease during the ironing operation. It is also often due to the fact that the material of the dress or skirt which was folded under and, therefore, not exposed to light fades less than the other part of the cloth.

It has been discovered that by providing a series of stitched rows, each a predetermined distance apart along the lower edge of the skirt, when the skirt is lengthened, it is lengthened an amount such that it is folded on a line on which a row of the stitches is formed. The folded seam will not be apparent when the skirt is lengthened because the faded area is separated from the unfaded by the line of stitches along which the skirt was previously folded and the line will be obscured by one of the said rows of stitches. The rows of stitches may be spaced a uniform distance to give a pleasing appearance.

The stitching disclosed herein has several purposes. It prevents the formation of a crease line because the thread forming the stitching on one side of the fabric lies between the fold forming the hem on the inside of the crease and thus prevents the cloth from folding sharply. When a thin material is used to make the skirt and the hem is let down, no crease line is visible and when the stitches are removed and the garment washed, no sign of the prior hem is present. If the stitches are put in by chain stitching, they can be easily removed when the hem is let out.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an improved skirt.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved skirt which may be lengthened and let down without any objectionable appearance resulting therefrom.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a skirt which is reinforced at the point where the skirt is folded and the reinforcing therefore provides additional strengthening for the garment when the garment is let down.

A further object of the invention is to provide a skirt which is simple to make and economical to manufacture.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the Patented May 30, 1961 spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view of a skirt having several portions thereof let down to illustrate the invention; and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the lower part of the skirt shown in 'Fig. 1 shown in the form of a section of cloth pieced in length in accordance with the invention.

Now with more particular reference to the drawing, a skirt 10 is shown gathered at 11 and held in position by a waist band 12. The lower edge of the skirt 10 is folded up and sewed at 15 to form a hem with a lower edge 14. The several hems are shown by way of illustration to show how the skirt 10 may be successively let down as the child grows.

As the child whose lower half is shown in Fig. 1 increases in height, the skirt 10 can be let down to the hem line which represents the distance from the row of stitching 17 to the row of stitching 18 or the row of stitching 19 to the row of stitching 16. When let down to this point, the prior portion, which was previously folded under which is the portion between the rows 16 and 19, will not be conspicuous because the line formed by the row of stitching 19 will form a line of demarcation between the two areas of cloth.

The rows of stitching 16, 17, 18, and 19 will be uniformly spaced so that each time the skirt 10 is let down from the hem line 16 to the hem line 20 and from the hem line 20 to the hem line 21, an equal amount of length of let down will be provided and one of the rows of stitching 19, 16, 20, or 21 will in turn be directly on the lower edge of the hem along the line of fold thereof.

The above disclosed stitching disposed in spaced parallel rows could be utilized in various other garments other than skirts; for example, in trousers for small boys and the like.

It is obvious that the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claim.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.

I claim:

A skirt having a downwardly extending portion defining a hem with a lower edge forming a crease along the bottom edge of said skirt, a portion of said skirt extending upwardly behind said downwardly extending portion, and a first, a second, and a third row of stitching parallel to said crease on said upwardly extending portion, each said row of stitching being spaced from each other and parallel to said crease, said first row of stitching being disposed on said crease, said skirt being adapted to be let down whereby a crease is disposed at the lower edge of said skirt along said second row and the cloth between said first and second rows of stitching forms a continuation of said downwardly extending portion with said first and second rows forming a decora tion on said skirt.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,620,319 Bennett Mar. 8, 1927 1,855,590 Stein Apr. 26, 1932 2,308,411 Wolfson Ian. 12, 1943 2,602,163 Davenport July 8, 1952 2,636,180 Gillespie et a1. Apr. 28, 1953 2,713,685 lNachem July 26, 1955 2,883,667 Kraus Apr. 28, 1959 

